McCaskey leaving Bears in good shape

Retiring chairman most proud of Super Bowl victory, Halas Hall and Soldier Field

March 21, 2011|By Dan Pompei | On the NFL

NEW ORLEANS — As Michael McCaskey looked around the room in the NFL owners meetings, he saw fellow team owners like Mike Brown of the Bengals and John Mara of the Giants. He thought about why he admired them.

And he hoped he would get to see them again from time to time.

This meeting will be McCaskey's last as chairman of the board of the Bears. It ends a string of 27 years in which McCaskey has been at the top of the food chain at Halas Hall, first as team president, and as chairman of the board since 1999.

As part of a succession plan, the 67-year-old is stepping down so his 54-year old brother George McCaskey can take over at a May 5 board meeting.

Public opinion of McCaskey has been harsh, but during his tenure the Bears won a Super Bowl and made it to another. They played in five NFC championship games. They made 12 playoff appearances. They had a regular-season winning percentage of .539. He helped get Soldier Field rebuilt, and was primarily responsible for building the new Halas Hall.

McCaskey said he is most proud of the Super Bowl victory, Halas Hall and Soldier Field.

"I'm also proud that the Bears continued to stand for the values that our grandfather (George Halas) began us with, and that we maintained a commitment to strengthening the league," he said.

As for regrets, he said, "I wish we had done more in the '80s with that wonderful set of players we had. I wish we had won more Super Bowls."

While McCaskey believes he is leaving the Bears in good hands, he acknowledges he has mixed feelings walking away.

"This is the most exciting sport in the world," he said. "It's a business started by my grandfather. It's a little tough to leave that excitement and not be involved on the front line. At the same time, I'm looking forward to having some time to explore some things like my photography and traveling with my wife."

At michaelmccaskey.com, McCaskey shows his work as a photographer. He just returned from a trip to Ethiopia in which he took many photographs. He and his wife Nancy plan on living abroad for periods of time in different countries, including France.

McCaskey will remain on the Bears' board of directors and attend meetings four times a year. But he will no longer serve four NFL committees. He has been chairman of the Super Bowl and Hall of Fame committees, and held seats on the stadium and international committees.

He has spent some of the past year preparing his brother for the job.

George is expected to have a somewhat different style from Michael, but he is not expected to be dabbling in football decisions.

"I've given a lot of thought to how to do the job," George said. "I've got three chairmen as predecessors with vastly different styles. One of the things I'm thinking a lot about is how to be informed and involved without interfering. George Halas is a great model. Ed McCaskey is a great model. Mike McCaskey is a great model.

"And I'm looking to Virginia McCaskey as the best role model for me — be a good ambassador for the Bears, support our president and CEO and be of any help to him that he'd like for me to be. At its most fundamental level, I want to help create an environment that's conducive to success."

Michael said he would have liked to have gone out with a Super Bowl victory, but he is content to leave the team in good shape.

"We have a good group of players, facilities and a stadium that are among the best in the league, a very fine set of coaches, a very good CEO in Ted Phillips and a general manger in Jerry Angelo, and financially we are in a strong position," he said. "There are a lot of positives to build on."